Monthly Archives: November 2020

Assignment 1, LLED 462

Final Learning Log – LLED 462 Reflection

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For my final course towards my Diploma in Teacher Librarianship, I feel like this was a good course to end with. This course allowed me to delve deeper into many concepts and digital tools that I had come across in earlier courses but hadn’t had a chance to explore enough to feel confident to apply in my teaching practice. In addition, it was interesting to me that many of the modules coincided with what I was teaching, seeing or needing at that exact time.  For example, in having more exposure and exploring multi-modal texts, I started to notice different ways children were expressing their learning, including my own children. I think by being aware of the significance of ways that children express their learning and acknowledging what they are doing encourages them to build on their thinking and their creations. At the time of reading the article “Becoming Multimodal: Literacy In and Beyond the Classroom”, I noticed that my eight-year-old daughter was creating a “diary” in the style of “The Owl Diaries”. I’m not sure if I would have noticed exactly what she was doing or why if I hadn’t read that article. Additionally, I really enjoyed reading the blog post by  Shveta Miller,  “The surprising benefits of student-created graphic novels” as I really try to encourage classroom teachers to accept graphic novels as beneficial literature to students and teach students more skills in comprehension for graphic novels. After reading this article, I began talking to classes about graphic novels and realized that many teachers and students thought graphic novels and illustrated novels were the same. This sparked further discussion and I was able to apply some of the concepts presented by Miller such as the frame and gutter. I would like to read the book that she suggested  Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud to get more ideas to help with more graphic novel studies in classes. 

Through the readings, I also found and was inspired by different text suggestions such as “The Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed” by Mo Willems. At the time of reading the article  “The King of Denmark and the Naked Mole Rat: Teaching Critical Thinking for Social Justice ” by Danielle McLaughlin, I was featuring Mo Willems as the author of the month in the LLC for “Mo”vember. Of course, I purchased it for the school right away and I shared it with all of the classes. I know this book was suggested in relation to social justice issues, which can clearly be a discussion point, but I also found it great to discuss diversity and make non-fiction connections and inquiry lessons for!

As well, I previously found and heard about web tools such as Symbaloo and Padlet but I hadn’t had the opportunity to try them until this course. I am grateful that there was a learning log question to try out Symbaloo as after I created one, I shared it with classes through Microsoft TEAMS. In addition, for a student inquiry on owls with one class, I used a combo of Symbaloo and Padlet; I created a Symbaloo with specific owl sites and then posted a link to a Padlet in their TEAM so they could post their learning on the Padlet after finding it through Symbaloo. The students loved seeing their post come up on the Padlet and I liked the fact that I could approve it before it was posted. In using these platforms, I have had great feedback from teachers and students and have teachers who want to try and create their own.

In addition, I have always wanted to incorporate a specific maker space area in my LLC but I always felt like I wanted it to have a specific purpose.    The “StoryMaking” resource was incredibly motivating for me and I am excited to use the concepts and share it with my staff; I know specific teachers who will be very interested in it. I plan to use the ideas I outlined in my assignment 3 to create makerspace(s) in my LLC and try out StoryMaking units with many classes. I shared my assignment 3 with my principal and professional development committee as well and it is in future professional development plans for me to share with staff. I have always thought that I should do a professional development presentation to staff in connection with inquiry-based learning but didn’t have the time or opportunity to create a well-prepared presentation. So, I am also glad that this assignment motivated me to create a document that I feel confident and proud to share with my staff.

Teacher Librarian advocacy has always been a bit difficult for me. Of course I feel strongly that Teacher Librarians and the proper use of the Library Learning Commons are essential to student and school success. In addition, I know that Teacher Librarians need to be prepared to advocate for our positions and the importance of the LLC but I have never felt fully prepared with specific points to defend my position. After writing learning log #4 and thinking through my points, I feel like I would be able to support my position with evidence and research because when challenged, it is always best to have specific support.

At the beginning of taking courses towards the Diploma in Teacher Librarianship, I felt like I was technologically literate but I was only submitting my assignments in WORD documents! Then, in the first course where I was required to create a blog, I was terrified and didn’t want to do it, now it is my preferred way to submit my work, as you may have noticed! There were times when I felt like quitting but I am glad I completed all ten courses because I do feel fully prepared to be a Teacher Librarian who can be an educational leader. Now, I will be continuing to use all of this accumulated learning in my practice.

Works cited:

Compton, M., & Thompson, R. (2018). Storymaking: A Maker Movement Approach to Literacy for Early Learners [Ebook]. Redleaf Press.

Lenters, K. ( 2018). Becoming Multimodal: Literacy In and Beyond the ClassroomLinks to an external site. The Reading Teacher, 71( 6), 643– 649. 

McLaughlin, D. (July 5, 2012). “The King of Denmark and the Naked Mole Rat: Teaching Critical Thinking for Social Justice”. EdCan Network. Retrieved from:https://www.edcan.ca/articles/the-king-of-denmark-and-the-naked-mole-rat-teaching-critical-thinking-for-social-justice/.

Miller, S.  (July 21, 2019). “The surprising benefits of student-created graphic novels.” Cult of Pedagogy. Retrieved from: https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/student-graphic-novels/. 

Quote Master. (2020). Teacher Librarians [Image]. Retrieved 29 November 2020, from https://www.quotemaster.org/teacher+librarians#&gid=1&pid=8.

Assignment 1, Assignments, LLED 462

Advocacy for Teacher Librarians: Learning Log 4 from Module 12

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Linking ideas for Teacher Librarian advocacy through the modules of LLED 462:

Over the years, there has been great shifts in the level of importance expressed for Teacher Librarians and libraries by the government. Before the BCTF collective agreement and numbers were reinstated, classroom teachers had gotten used to functioning independently and surviving without sufficient support from Teacher Librarians. When I first began as a Teacher Librarian, I quickly realized that classroom teachers were reluctant to work with me and rely on my support because there was a fear that it would be taken away again. Now, I feel like I have gained the trust and respect from classroom teachers as I have built relationships and proven that I have expertise to assist them in innovative learning endeavors in their classrooms. However, I also know that part of my job is to constantly display how essential my job is by continuously advocating for the importance of Teacher Librarians and the Library Learning Commons space to be used correctly. I have also realized that having specific research and data to back-up my claims strengthens my case when I am faced with a challenge. Therefore, I am thankful for this final module and all of the evidence advocating for the continued importance of Teacher Librarians.

In this final module of the course, the following issues were highlighted as areas of concern and reasons why schools cannot do without highly qualified Teacher Librarians and a designated Library Learning Commons.

Without a fully-functioning Library Learning Commons with an adequate number of books per student and a highly qualified Teacher Librarian, students cannot reach their full potential. If children are impoverished, they probably don’t have access to sufficient nourishment let alone books; however, as Stephen Krashen explains, “Access to a library with 500 books or more balances the effect of poverty ” (Krashen, 2020). In addition, a highly qualified Teacher Librarian knows how to aid in pairing individuals with resources to suit their needs even if they don’t know what they are looking for. Having extensive knowledge of the library collection, available resources and patrons makes Teacher Librarians  “Effective readers’ advisers [because they] understand that their success depends on familiarity with a range of books, as well as with their patrons” (Parrott, 2017).  As well, each time the Teacher Librarian “… sees the child, she’ll inquire about the selections, which titles the student enjoyed (or didn’t), further refining understanding of the reader” (Parrott,  2017). Connecting students to books that are of interest to them to promote the love of reading is essential to future success in that “The more people read for pleasure, the higher their literacy scores. Free voluntary reading (silent reading) is associated with higher literacy rate” (Krashen, 2020).  Therefore, Teacher Librarians and sufficient time for the Teacher Librarian in the Library Learning Commons is vital to student success because “The more school librarians per child, the higher the reading score ” (Krashen, 2020). 

Teacher Librarians teach students how to think for themselves by teaching information literacy skills.  Teacher Librarians “… are building on the potential of school libraries to enable students to become informed and engaged citizens and effective contributors to our society and our economy, through the acquisition of life skills, of information literacy strategies, and of dispositions for flexibility, creativity, and innovation” (Oberg, 2014). Teacher Librarians teach student which resources to use to find the information they are searching for and how to combine those facts in order to make informed decisions.

Teacher Librarians address social justice issues. In Hillary Clinton’s speech to the ALA she states, “The third reason why we need libraries is because we need critical thinkers more than ever. …librarians were teaching media literacy…you help learners of all ages sort out truth from fiction and how to build an argument based on rational evidence” (CNN, 2017). She goes on to say “…as Librarians, once again, you have to be on the front lines of one of the most important fights we have ever faced…the fight to defend truth and reason, evidence and facts”(CNN, 2017).  Students need to develop critical literacy skills in order to be able to question their moral beliefs and not necessarily simply follow an individual because they are in a position of power because   “Democracy does not, in fact, depend solely upon the rule of the majority; it depends upon the understanding that the majority should be subject to questions and that minority values and views will be tolerated where they do not cause significant harm” (McLaughlin, 2012). Teacher Librarians expose students to resources and teach them how to navigate information to discern if it is the truth or not. 

Teacher Librarians foster community building. Hillary Clinton also emphasizes “Why we need libraries more than ever because they are places for communities to come together” (CNN, 2017). In a school, the Library Learning Commons and the Teacher Librarian are one of the only places and people that all students visit and they see through each grade. The Library Learning Commons connects all individuals in the school not only through books but also school wide events and initiatives. The Teacher Librarian is fortunate to be able to know all of the students and teachers in the school and see them develop and grow from year to year and this directly relates to my next point.

Teacher Librarians and the Library Learning Commons promotes wellness for patrons.  Many Teacher Librarians feel like they aid in the wellbeing of patrons by providing a safe space with a caring,  individual who they have built a relationship with over the years and connects them with books that make them happy. Unfortunately, this information is purely based on observations so in the article “How Can School Libraries Support Student Wellbeing?”, Merga argues that “There is also a need for more research around libraries as safe spaces to be subject to peer review, as searches of the literature around libraries as safe spaces are more heavily weighted toward anecdotal work rather than research” (Merga, 2020, p.663).  There is research to support that “The regular reading of fiction is associated with the development of prosocial characteristics such as empathy and perspective taking (e.g. Mar et al., 2009), and book reading can be used as both a mental health and social support by adult readers” (Merga, 2020, p.665). Therefore, if a Teacher Librarian is the individual who promotes and connects patrons with books of interest then “School librarians can also support students to engage with literature in meaningful and healing ways” (Merga, 2020, p.665).

Checklist of key issues for advocacy and how I will address these issues:

  • Provide equal access to resources and information. By giving all students access to books and digital tools, no matter their backgrounds or circumstances at home, it provides opportunities for students to see new possibilities for their future. For example, in “The Bookmobile” video, Julie Zammarchi explains that simply having access to books and hearing a librarian explain that “The more you know about something, the less you will fear it”, helped her learn that there was life outside of where she lived and so was able to leave it. Promoting the library and library programs through the school newsletter and a 24/7 online participatory library learning commons will help to inform all patrons of the potential of the Library Learning Commons and provide more opportunities for developing multiple literacies.
  • Continue to promote community building in a space that is safe and inclusive area for all learners. Offering school-wide activities and initiatives through the library connect all of the individuals in the school. For example, events such as D.E.A.R., Battle of the Books, Bookfairs and read-a-thons brings the entire school community together for a common purpose. One aspect that I will be incorporating into my Library Learning Commons space that all patrons will have access to is a makerspace because “Libraries and makerspaces serve the common goal of building community. Communities of interest and practice are brought together and maintained through the design of communal space to promote sociality and collaboration (while also providing spaces for individual work)” (Weisgrau, 2015). By providing a makerspace that has enough open-ended possibility allows all students access at multiple levels. By providing opportunities such as makerspace perfectly positions future-ready learning opportunities because “Proponents of maker spaces argue that such environments address a unique package of complementary 21st century skills and aptitudes such as creativity, innovation, transmedia navigation, visual literacy, and (if based in technology) computational thinking—the kind of skills identified by the Institute of Museum and Library Services in their report on museums, libraries, and 21st century skills (2009)” (Bowler & Champagne, 2016). 
  • Push for collaboration time with classroom teachers: Collaborating with classroom teachers and individuals throughout the school district promotes community and improves students learning because “Improved schools are collaborative in their thinking and practices” (Oberg, 2014). However, classroom teachers need to have specific collaboration time with the Teacher Librarian to co-plan units for optimum success. There needs to be administrator support for this release time and it is my job to advocate for the importance of the release time so that more teachers will be encouraged to work with me. I am thankful for the evidence that “Teachers, teacher-librarians, and principals – learning and working together – support and facilitate improvements in teaching and learning” (Oberg, 2014). Students need to see constant modelling of collaborative behaviours between adults in order to successfully collaborate as well. 
  • Constantly offer and highlight multi-modal texts and ways to express and communicate learning. Students may use digital platforms on a daily basis but that does not mean they are using it responsibly, productively and to its full potential. In addition, most times children use media resources in the same way each time. Without guidance and suggestions from a knowledgeable individual, students tend to communicate ideas in a similar fashion if they don’t know other possibilities.  For example, “The work of Ito et al. (2010) certainly suggests that young people can achieve a level of criticality with regard to their digital creations but that many struggle to do so without the support of adults. Maker spaces, where young people work side-by side with knowledgeable mentors, might be a powerful crucible for developing personal and social awareness with regard to the creation and use of technology” (Bowler & Champagne, 2016, p.119). This is another way that the issue of teaching students information literacy skills helps them to be successful constructivist thinkers by helping them find the tools and resources  to be able to solve problems with innovative solutions.
  • Promoting new ways of learning. Inclusive literacy involves teaching about and touching on all literacies including traditional literacies, media literacy, digital literacy and critical literacy. One way to touch on critical literacy is to practice inquiry-based teaching and learning techniques. Although inquiry-based teaching and learning has been in practice for a while now, many teachers are not sure how to implement the techniques. Therefore, “British Columbia Teacher-Librarians’ long-standing engagement with inquiry-based learning, literacy instruction and information and communication technologies (ICT) potentially positions them to effectively assist classroom teachers and students navigate ongoing shifts in curriculum aims, literacy approaches and technological applications within changing school settings (Robinson, 2011; Ekdahl & Zubke, 2014)” ( Hales and Beaudry, 2018, p.13).  I find teachers at my school need assistance in implementing simple inquiry techniques that tweak the ways they are already teaching to make it inquiry-based. I feel like my expertise as a Teacher librarian can assist uncertain classroom teachers to begin weaving in these techniques because “As the new millennium continues, educators find themselves in need of new literacy practices and instructional approaches that will provide support for students as they navigate the challenges of multimodal texts, digital environments, and new forms of texts, for example, blogs, wikis, text messages, and hypertexts” (Serafini, 2012, p.29). As well, classroom teachers need exposure to new technologies and ways to promote new possibilities for student learning. Therefore, a Teacher Librarian needs to be aware of new research findings and affectively communicate and promote new ideas.
  • Print-based text just as important that ever! Although Teacher Librarians promote the use of new technologies, it is still as important as in the past to promote physical books and adequate physical space. When advocating for the Library Learning Commons and why a physical space is necessary, it is best to have specific evidence and research to back it up. For example, there is always the argument that book will become obsolete because everything is moving to digital platforms. As Teacher Librarians, we feel strongly about the need to maintain print-based books but I feel like I need to have specific evidence to back up my claims in order to be taken seriously. Therefore reading the article “Being a better online reader” gives evidence that “While the backgrounds of the writers varied, a theme began to emerge: the more reading moved online, the less students seemed to understand” (Konnikova, 2014). I found the examples given for why comprehension is less when reading online very compelling such as “On screen, people tended to browse and scan, to look for keywords, and to read in a less linear, more selective fashion. On the page, they tended to concentrate more on following the text”(Konnikova, 2014). Before reading this article, I had heard that information retention is higher when reading print over digital text but I didn’t have any specific evidence to that and now I do. 
  • Conduct my own personal inquiries and collect evidence for continued advocacy for the Library Learning Commons and Teacher Librarians: An inquiry-based research model is an effective method of collecting evidence for advocacy such as was used in the BCTF article ““Renaissance delayed: supporting early career teacher-librarians in British Columbia”. I like the idea of Action Research (AR) as explained as “… teacher-driven education inquiry that acknowledges the practitioner as “knower and agent for educational and social change” (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009, p. 8)—in this case, participating BCTLA and BCTF union members” (Hales and Beaudry, 2018, p.4). For example, Merga’s article ” How Can School Libraries Support Student Wellbeing?” concludes that “ Promising findings on how school libraries operate as safe spaces for young people; promote and resource mental health and wellbeing initiatives; and, support and promote bibliotherapeutic practices and reading for pleasure, suggest that these, amongst other areas of relevance, can be useful starting points for furthering this research agenda ” (2020, p.670).  I also believe that the Library Learning Commons  and Teacher Librarians promote student well-being and the only evidence that I have is anecdotal; however, as I stated in relation to promoting print materials, these claims would be better supported with evidence. Therefore, I was contemplating how to collect specific evidence for advocacy and, at the moment, I believe that something such as action research and a specific inquiry would be the most effective for collecting evidence for topics such as fostering student wellness in the Library Learning Commons.

In conclusion:

I feel as if many classroom teachers are not used to having a Teacher Librarian at their disposal and therefore do not know how to fully utilize the resource. Each year, I need to promote myself and remind classroom teachers of the endless possibilities of ways that a Teacher Librarian can support them, their students and the school at large. I found this visual from another TL that summarizes the main ways that TLs can support classroom teachers. A poster like this would be beneficial to have displayed by the circulation desk or shared at a professional development day.

In the time we are presently in, I see it as more important that ever to advocate for Teacher Librarians as access to books, reading for pleasure and access to a knowledgeable individual that can connect all parts of the school community with suitable books, resources and other materials that meet their needs, promotes wellness by relieving stress for individuals.

I will continue to advocate for Teacher Librarians not only because it is my “dream job” but because I believe if we can actually achieve the vision that is set up for the Teacher Librarian, it will lead to higher student achievement, more classroom teacher satisfaction and overall school environment.

Works cited:

Bowler, L., & Champagne, R. (2016). Mindful makers: Question prompts to help guide young peoples’ critical technical practices in maker spaces in libraries, museums, and community-based youth organizations. Library and Information Science Research, 38(2), 117-124.  

CNN. (2017). Hilary Clinton full ALA Conference speech [Video]. Retrieved 28 November 2020, from https://youtu.be/S8OEAPSFp4c.

Hales, A.  and Beaudry, L..  (October 2018). “Renaissance delayed: supporting early career teacher-librarians in British Columbia.” BCTF.  Retrieved from: https://bctf.ca/uploadedFiles/Public/Publications/ResearchReports/RenaissanceDelayed/2018%20Renaissance%20Delayed-Research%20Report.pdf . 

Konnikova, M. (2014, July 16). Being a better online reader. Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/being-a-better-online-reader .

Krashen, S. (2014, January 16). Dr. Stephen Krashen defends libraries at LAUSD Board Meeting [Video]. Retrieved 28 November 2020, from https://youtu.be/JAui0OGfHQY.

McLaughlin, D. (2012). The King of Denmark and the Naked Mole Rat: Teaching Critical Thinking for Social Justice. Edcan.ca. Retrieved 28 November 2020, from https://www.edcan.ca/articles/the-king-of-denmark-and-the-naked-mole-rat-teaching-critical-thinking-for-social-justice/.

Merga, M. (2020). How Can School Libraries Support Student Wellbeing? Evidence and Implications for Further Research, Journal of Library Administration, 60:6, 660-673,Retrieved from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01930826.2020.1773718 .

Mighty Little Librarian. (2020). Top 10 things your librarian do for you [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.mightylittlelibrarian.com/?p=1388.

Oberg, D. (2014). Ignoring the evidence: Another decade of decline for school libraries. Education Canada, 54(3). Retrieved from: http://www.cea-ace.ca/education-canada/article/ignoring-evidence-another-decade-decline-school-libraries .

Parrott, Kiera.  (August 28, 2017).  Thinking outside the bin: why labeling books by reading level disempowers young readers.  Retrieved from: http://www.slj.com/2017/08/feature-articles/thinking-outside-the-bin-why-labeling-books-by-reading-level-disempowers-young-readers/#_ .

Quote master. (2020). Teacher Librarians [Image]. Retrieved 8 November 2020, from https://www.quotemaster.org/school+librarians.

Weisgrau, Josh.  (2015, September 24). School libraries and makerspaces: can they coexist? Retrieved from:http://www.edutopia.org/blog/school-libraries-makerspaces-coexist-josh-weisgrau.

Zammarchi, Julie. (April 13, 2016). “The Bookmobile.” StoryCorps.  Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11OvHcgh-E.

 

Assignment 3, Assignments, LLED 462, Themes

StoryMaking: using makerspace to tell stories.

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Rationale:

I am the Teacher Librarian at a K-5 English language Elementary School. I have been in this position for a total of 2.75 years with an 18 month maternity break in the middle. I would like this presentation to be shared with staff at my school to encourage collaboration with the Teacher Librarian and give teachers confidence to try makerspace activities in the library or in their own classroom. The story “making” concept introduces inquiry skills in a non-threatening way and one of my goals in my school is to foster and encourage inquiry-based teaching and learning. In addition, I have heard teachers express their need for more information and guidance for how to incorporate ADST curriculum. Finally, a school and district goal this year is literacy. I really connected with the Story “making” in that for such a simple and easy to implement idea, it meets topics of focus for my school and has the ability to meet curricular topics in multiple areas. Therefore, I have followed the StoryMaking framework quite closely and incorporated other materials from the course, such as multi-modal learning and expression of ideas and how StoryMaking allows for diverse learning opportunities.

Reflection:

For my presentation, I chose to use Canva as I’ve heard good things about it and wanted to try it out. I thought choosing the “presentation” mode would be suitable to present these ideas to staff as I would like to make the ideas clear but not overwhelm teachers with the information. I liked using Canva and also created my blog header with it. I would use it again for other purposes in the future now.

I spent quite a bit of time exploring different digital tools to find ones that I felt were easy to implement for teachers and students to present learning from story “making”. From what I have heard, I thought that Storybird would be a good webtool but didn’t realize that it was a subscription. So, I tried Lark by Storybird as I hear it is free but apparently it is only for iPads and iPhones. We do have iPads at school so it may be a possibility; however, classes mostly use our student devices which are microsoft products. Therefore, I decided to use Storyboard That because our school district uses Microsoft and all students have an account. I am hoping that students will be able to automatically sign-in once they are logged on to our student devices. Book creator seems good because it has the option to log-in with a microsoft account which all students have in our district. Also, if the teacher has an account, the students use the teacher code to connect with the teacher so their books can be easily shared. I noticed that once I downloaded my presentation to insert into my blog, the book from BookCreator is not able to be viewed however it works when I present it in presentation mode in Canva. Therefore, I have inserted a screen capture below with a hyperlink. I have published the book to the public so it should work.

Finally, I have shared this presentation with my principal and she is excited for it to be shared with staff.  As this is a presentation, I fully expect that there will be rich discussion with teachers as I explain StoryMaking and how it can be implemented in the Library Learning Commons with any classes throughout our school.

Works cited:

4 Principles Of Student-centered Learning. TeachThought. (2019). Retrieved 21 November 2020, from https://www.teachthought.com/.

Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies | Building Student Success – BC’s New Curriculum. Curriculum.gov.bc.ca. (2020). Retrieved 14 November 2020, from https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/adst.

Bradshaw, J.,  (2020). Graphic Novels for Kids: The 13 best graphic novel series. Everyday Reading. Retrieved 15 November 2020, from https://everyday-reading.com/graphic-novels-for-kids/.

Canva. (2020). Blog header [Image].

Compton, M., & Thompson, R. (2018). Storymaking: A Maker Movement Approach to Literacy for Early Learners [Ebook]. Redleaf Press.

Davidson, A. (2018). How do Makerspaces heighten student engagement?. Edcan.ca. Retrieved 21 November 2020, from https://www.edcan.ca/articles/makerspaces-heighten-student-engagement/.

Good, S., Araujo, J., Shuster, L., & Meredith, A. (2019). Story Studio: Collaborative Inquiry. Presentation, Burnaby School District.

Media Literacy Fundamentals. MediaSmarts. (2020). Retrieved 21 November 2020, from https://mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy/general-information/digital-media-literacy-fundamentals/media-literacy-fundamentals.

Moorefield-Lang, H., & Kitzie, V. (2018). Makerspaces for All: Serving Lgbtq Makers in School Libraries. Knowledge Quest, 47(1), 46-50. Retrieved 21 November 2020, from.

Postmodern picturebook list. Literacy Clinic Education. (2013). Retrieved 15 November 2020, from https://literacyclinic.education.gsu.edu/files/2013/10/Postmodern-Picture-Book-List.pdf.

Serafini, F. (2012). Reading multimodal texts in the 21st century. Research In Schools, 19(1), 26-32. Retrieved 15 November 2020, from.

Weisgrau, J. (2015). School libraries and makerspaces: can they coexist? [Blog]. Retrieved 14 November 2020, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/school-libraries-makerspaces-coexist-josh-weisgrau.

UBC. (Winter 2020). ” Learning from Multi-Modal Texts: a look at new literacies.” Module 4 in LLED 462 Canvas Online Classroom.

UBC. (Winter 2020).”Supporting Learners Through the Library: Critical Literacy.” Module 5 in LLED 462 Canvas Online Classroom.

Assignment 1, LLED 462

Inquiry using makerspace in the LLC: Learning Log #3 – prompt from module 9

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Purpose:

Throughout the school year, I am constantly in conversation with teachers, dropping in on classes, talking to and observing students, to see what everyone is interested in or working on currently. The way I choose resources and activities for the library is usually based on how learning is being directed at the school at the time. Most times, resources that pique my interest connect with learning or interests that have been expressed in my school.

In addition, I have been trying to find ways to foster a culture of inquiry in my current school as it has been sparse thus far. In my previous school, there was a very strong culture of inquiry and the grade 4/5 students would have a showcase at the end of the year presenting personal open-inquiry projects and it was fabulous! At my current school, there is limited inquiry and I have noticed that grade 4/5 students get easily frustrated and are afraid to make mistakes without having practice with inquiry-based learning starting in earlier grades. It is my goal to start teaching inquiry-type skills starting in kindergarten and continuing to build on the skills in the hopes that when those students reach grade 4/5, they will be more inclined to be successful with inquiry-based learning. As well, with teachers now being expected to teach ADST curriculum, many have expressed that this is a challenging area for them. Therefore, the module 9 reading and exemplars were very interesting to me as “Supporting Learners as Inquirers and Designers” is a particular focus in my teaching now and I will discuss the readings that I feel will help me meet my current goals for this school year.

Connections:

Just recently, in the week leading up to Halloween, for library storytime,  I was inspired by the multi-modal text examples and multi-literacy learning as of late so I decided to tell oral stories with paper props with primary students. The results were more than I could have hoped for! I was hoping to surprise and delight students with a different kind of story, which it did, but also, students were directly reporting to me that they were retelling the stories and trying to reproduce the paper props with others at center time or at home! So, I was already considering what other ways I could inspire students to create, re-create or retell stories using other types of visuals and then the module 9 readings supplied some answers and suggestions for me.

I found the example of “Story Studio” inspirational as I was thinking of creating an area of the LLC with loose parts for students to create their own stories. My school has an oral storytelling kit with loose parts such as small rounds of wood and small animal puppets but I have not seen it used in classes for a while so I thought it could be incorporated into my own “Story Studio”. I appreciate how the presentation states that the intention of the project is “….how this creative, ‘playful literacy’ structure can enhance oral language development and ALL children’s identity as author’s, artists and storytellers in other learning contexts, such as school libraries” (Good et al., 2019). It was just so great seeing the excitement and surprise from young students at their own success in storytelling that I want to keep the momentum going and foster that feeling for those students. In the presentation, I also like the suggestions for how to start because that is a part I was struggling with; deciding on where to go with this idea. I thought I needed more stories like the Halloween stories but I like how the “Story Studio” lays out “Providing prompts or provocations for storytelling through anchor books or a new material; setting an intention for the session; creating stories by gathering materials, playing with the materials and making a story through collaboration or independently and finally, sharing and/or recording the story” (Good et al., 2019). As well, I appreciate that a reflection is included because in my understanding, reflecting is one of the most important aspects of inquiry-based learning. Finally, with this presentation, I like how they shared the focus topics for different age levels and explained that the grade 5 students were just as excited as the early primary students to explore the story studio. The presentation explained that they used digital storytelling as part of the sharing process but I wish they had given some examples of what kind of digital storytelling or specific digital tools that they used.

Another useful reading from this module that connects to this idea is the book Storymaking: the Maker Movement Approach to Literacy for Early Learners. Even in the module notes it expresses that this book is already creating a buzz in BC Early Learning Networks and I also feel like there are teachers on my staff that would find this book very interesting and useful as well. Of course, most teachers already acknowledge the importance of learning through play especially in primary classrooms but I feel like the part that will be of particular interest is the sharing and communicating of “completed” stories. I found this book to be so full of great ideas that I would like to try and implement in the LLC. For example, with primary students, I already like to do “wonder” lessons with anchor texts and thought-provoking pictures so I can see adding in “wonders of the week” to a “story making” corner that could inspire story ideas for students. I like the chart on page 49 with suggestions for “Wonder of the Week”:

In addition, I can see teachers using the suggestions for how to easily incorporate “Story making” in the classroom such as students sharing stories from something that happened the day before while waiting for others to finish morning routine. 

One concern I had when thinking about how to use props in story making is how to make it structured so that it is not simply play but play with a purpose. Several times throughout the text, it reinforces the importance of students having a plan before beginning “Story making”, at one point stating, “One of the best strategies we have taught our early learners is how to imagine before they play (or make) their stories” (51). It seems so simple but it would seem to solve many potential problems and give students direction before “story making”. There are a lot of good suggestions on how to help students plan before making.

This text is so rich in information and suggestions about how to implement “story making” that it felt a bit overwhelming in reading it but it helped me come away with a better grasp about how I could purposefully carry out “story making” to practice inquiry in the library through story-telling in the LLC. The text also gives evidence to back up the claims which is always good to have if ever needing to justify why an activity is chosen.

The last article that I would like to reflect on is “Mindful makers: Question prompts to help guide young peoples’ critical technical practices in maker spaces in libraries, museums, and community-based youth organizations”. Like the two previous articles, this article focuses on maker space, which I have expressed is a current point of interest of mine. As I also expressed earlier, I find that without the opportunity to practice inquiry skills from very young, it can be difficult for older students; however, I like the suggestions in the article as ways to foster inquiry skills with those learners.  In this article as well, it makes good points to support the use of maker space activities such as “Proponents of maker spaces argue that such environments address a unique package of complementary 21st century skills and aptitudes such as creativity, innovation, transmedia navigation, visual literacy, and (if based in technology) computational thinking…”(Bowler & Champagne, 2016,117). In addition, I like how the article states that, “Production offers value beyond an end product for makers; they develop new literacies by engaging with tools and processes that may not surface in conventional learning environments” (Bowler & Champagne, 2016,118).  I found it interesting to read that the questioning process is important to the maker process and that there was found to be specific questions: “These questions can, collectively, serve as a tool kit for scaffolding critical practices in maker spaces for youth: • What will make me happy? • Who is my audience? • What resources do I have and need? • What will inspire me to give my time and effort to a project?• What do I know? • Can I let myself make a mistake? • How will my creation affect other people? • What kind of maker am I?” (Bowler & Champagne, 2016, 120-121). Like I said, sometimes it can be challenging to guide students that are a little bit older in inquiry-based learning if they do not have much prior experience and it can easily get frustrating for students and the teacher which can lead to giving up on the idea of inquiry. Therefore, it is good to have these specific focus questions for both teachers and students to keep in mind for any inquiry-based teaching and learning because, as the article argues, “The central instrument is the relationship and dialogue between mentor and youth maker. Although certainly not the only solution, question prompts that occur within the framework of a conversation can be a useful tool to help scaffold deeper thinking about making and support a disposition toward a mindful and critical technical practice” (Bowler & Champagne, 2016,124). These are the kinds of tools I need to supply teachers to encourage more inquiry-based teaching and learning at my school. 

Conclusions:

Over the years of being a TL, I have tried a few maker space and/or STEM activities in the LLC but I have yet to set up a permanent or even semi-permanent dedicated space. I am always considering where to put it, what it should contain and how to implement it for students to purposefully use. I think I have been putting it off because I knew I should do it but didn’t really have a concrete understanding. So, I am grateful that these articles are included as reading for this course and module as now I feel like I have a starting place and specific goals to begin my maker space. Finally, I feel like having a focus of oral storytelling for my makerspace will be more manageable than trying to create a makerspace with materials for every purpose imaginable.

 

Works cited:

Bowler, L., & Champagne, R. (2016). Mindful makers: Question prompts to help guide young peoples’ critical technical practices in maker spaces in libraries, museums, and community-based youth organizations. Library and Information Science Research, 38(2), 117-124.  

Canva. (2020). Four-panel photo montage store header [Image]. Retrieved 7 November 2020, from https://www.canva.com/design/DAEM3KU_plQ/DdMt5L6188HhxaVxVM5i_Q/edit?layoutQuery=story+website+header.

Compton, Michelle Kay, et al. Storymaking: the Maker Movement Approach to Literacy for Early Learners. Redleaf Press, 2018. (ebook)

Good, S., Araujo, J., Shuster, L., & Meredith, A. (2019). Story Studio: Collaborative Inquiry. Presentation, Burnaby School District.